News Release
Wednesday, January 7, 2004
CONTACT: Simon Chaitowitz, 202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org
Graphic New TV Ad Warns
Against Dangers of Fatty Foods
Doctors Launch Campaign in D.C., Ad Soon to
Debut in States with Highest Mortality from Coronary Heart Disease
Washington—A
graphic new TV ad depicting the dangers of high-fat, high-cholesterol
food will debut next week in D.C. “Parallels”
alternates images of a heavy, middle-aged man gorging on greasy
chicken and other unhealthy foods with actual footage of a surgeon
removing fatty deposits from a patient's artery. The voiceover begins,
“Fat and cholesterol. They could ruin your appetite …
forever” and ends with “Tonight, make it vegetarian.”
Produced
by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), the
ad is part of a major educational campaign to combat unhealthy eating
trends that have been sweeping the nation. “Parallels” will premiere
on January 12 on CNN and roll out later this winter in New York,
Missouri, and other states with high rates of mortality from heart
disease.
“The
growing popularity of unhealthy fad diets is bad news, except perhaps
for undertakers or companies selling cholesterol-lowering drugs,”
says Jennifer Keller, R.D., nutrition projects coordinator. “If
Americans don't put down their steak knives, they'll soon find themselves
going under the surgeons' blades, and in record numbers.”
Studies
show that diets high in fatty, cholesterol-laden animal products
like meat, chicken, eggs, and pork dramatically increase one's risk
of coronary heart disease. According to the American Heart Association,
coronary heart disease is still the number-one killer of both men
and women in the United States. Research shows that a low-fat vegetarian
diet reverses heart disease in 82 percent of study participants,
according to a 1998 JAMA study by Dean Ornish, M.D., of the University
of California at San Francisco.
PCRM's
“Parallels” is the second in a series. The first, “SafeDiets,”
deals with the dangers of high-protein, carbohydrate-restricted
diets; the third—focused on the link between erectile dysfunction
and high-fat diets—is due out in February.
Visuals
and interviews: Beta copies of all three ads are available to any
TV station or network wishing to run them as public service announcements.
For PSA tapes, or interviews with PCRM health professionals, please
contact Ms. Simon Chaitowitz at 202-686-2210, ext. 309, or simonc@pcrm.org.
Founded
in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a
nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine,
especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research
studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives
to animal research.
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